Cellular and thylakoid-membrane glycolipids of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 137+.

The glycolipids of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 137+ have been quantitated in the phototrophically-cultured cell and in its thylakoid membrane. Three lipids, the galactolipids monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), and the sulfated glycolipid sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SL), constitute the total glycolipid complement and some 70-80% of the total polar lipid at both levels. About 70% of the alga's sulfolipid, but only about half of its galactolipid, is localized in the thylakoid. The three cellular and thylakoid glycolipids all contain prominent hexadecanoic and octadecanoic fatty acids. Quantitatively, each lipid has a distinctive acyl profile, making SL the most highly saturated and MGDG the least saturated glycolipid. Differences between the fatty acid profiles of each corresponding cellular and thylakoid glycolipid indicate that discrimination of the glycolipid species assembled into photosynthetic membrane takes place during thylakoid membrane biogenesis.